I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! What made ours even warmer was the gorgeous weather in Charlotte. It felt like spring time! This was a very special Thanksgiving because my parents and sister and her family all relocated to Charlotte earlier this year. We had a great potluck spread and my sister hosted. [...]

There was a time when extra overripe bananas meant the pleasure or pressure to bake. Once I made the banana ice scream recipe from the Vitamix cookbook, I realized that bananas were just as useful frozen as any other frozen fruit. This is an easy way to preserve those spare bananas without them sticking together! [...]

Continuing the drive up the coast of Maine, we stopped in Portland for one night. We were all in the mood for Asian food and decided on a vegetarian Thai restaurant called The Green Elephant. We checked with several locals including our hotel staff, shop keepers, and Uber drive and they all gave it a [...]